NEWS

Introduction from Peter

As we come to the end of 2018 we cannot remember a year when the industry has changed so dramatically so quickly.

With the pressure on cities to reduce emissions and the quest to modernise the new car emission and fuel consumption testing procedures, many markets have fallen out of love with diesel cars.

These legislation changes have been responsible for used diesel demand falling in some countries and our MarketPlace director Morten Holmsten highlights in his article how Autorola has been at the heart of the import and export activity which is balancing supply and demand across Europe.

Used market is in good healthWhile some car makers still get to grips with the new WLTP legislation for new cars it’s clear the used market is generally in very good health which looks like continuing well into 2019. New car sales are falling in some countries and the industry automatically invests more time and money in buying and selling used cars.

2018 will see the group auction over 800,000 used cars online to buyers in 40 countries on behalf of over 1,700 vendors which is a record.

As more vendors and buyers embrace selling and buying used cars online we will get closer to one million vehicles in 2019. A huge landmark which would not be possible without the open mindedness of our customers.

We wish our friends, our colleagues and our clients a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you all at the ENG Remarketing conference in January.

Autorola Marketplace is driving the European used car import/export market

Dec 6, 2018 written by Autorola

Autorola’s Marketplace online remarketing portal has been at the heart of a huge rise in cross border used car sales in 2018 due to emission legislation reducing demand for diesels and a major shortage in used cars in some countries.

Over 150,000 used cars have either been imported or exported by the Autorola platform in 2018, which accounts for 21% of total vehicles sold online. This figure is as high as 60% in some countries where demand for diesels has fallen.

Pan European remarketing strategiesIt has meant Autorola working with more vendors to develop pan-European remarketing strategies to accommodate the cross-border exchange of used vehicles. ‘Europe’s biggest challenge is how countries respond to introducing new legislation to improve air quality,” explained Morten Holmsten, global sales director, Marketplace.

Used diesel demand impacts the leasing sector“Legislation has caused used diesel demand to fall dramatically in some countries causing a major challenge for the likes of leasing companies where thousands of used diesels are being de-fleeted every week,” he added.

Germany and France are leading the way to reduce emissions and improve urban air quality which is forcing more diesel used cars to be exported to Poland, Africa and the Middle East. Belgium is also exporting more cars following new fiscal reforms that incentivise buying petrols, hybrids and EVs, while up to 55% of ex-leasing stock from the Netherlands is being exported to Portugal, Croatia and Romania.

Importing more used petrol cars into Germany and BelgiumGermany and Belgium are in turn importing more petrol used cars to balance the supply, while the Netherlands is importing cars from Denmark and France.

European new car sales plummeted in 2009-2011 due to widespread recession, with countries like Portugal, Spain and Italy hit the hardest. It also took these countries the longest to recover, but now their economies are growing the demand for used cars is outweighing supply and they are utilising the MarketPlace portal to source stock.

Portugal is importing used cars to satisfy a growth in demandPortuguese dealers are importing €10-12,000 cars from the likes of France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands while Spanish dealers are sourcing three to eight-year-old sub- €10,000 used cars for its customers.

The Italian market is typically importing lower value used cars and exporting around 20% of their high value high specification used cars to Germany and Austria, which then sell cars to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia

“It’s exciting for our Marketplace platform to be at the heart of the European remarketing industry supporting the ever-changing supply and demand for used cars,” said Holmsten.

The project – in complexity and number of parties involved in the entire set up – has helped reshape Santander’s operations and is delivering value on a daily basis by providing greater analysis and insight into its remarketing results and supply chain partners’ performance.

“The deep knowledge of the remarketing process at Autorola and the international project team made it possible to implement the project without any impacts on our daily business, while switching the system.”

Mr Kipp continues, “The Autorola Fleet Monitor allowed us to digitize and scale many points of our remarketing process. This gave us the chance to boost the remarketing time and to tighten control over the whole process. Moreover, the possibility to access all data of the included vehicles, made it possible for us to analyze the remarketing results and performance of our suppliers at a new level.“

Autorola Solutions provides customised solutions to fleet owners of all sizes with all customers assigned a project manager who oversees the entire implementation process – from the initial contact through to implementation.

Autorola Group hits the road for auto events

Dec 4, 2018 written by Autorola

It has been a busy few weeks for Autorola Group with various appearances at automotive events across the globe. Group CEO Peter Grøftehauge spent time addressing the Welcome Tomorrow 2018 PARAR conference in Brazil on the digital impact on the automotive industry. PARAR is the major mobility event in Latin America with over 3,000 people attending the three-day event in person while a further 10,000 joined in online. Autorola Brazil also attended FENAUTO in October.

Autorola embracing personal mobilityAutorola Group then supported the Fleet Europe Summit 2018, held on 27-28 November in Barcelona, by sponsoring the Fleet Europe Village which was home to leading fleet and mobility suppliers.

Morten was spotted embracing the discussion around personal mobility at the event by trying out a bicycle on the ALD Automotive booth.

We will see everybody at the ENG Vehicle Remarketing conference in Amsterdam on the 24-25 January 2019.

End-to-end solution helps manage repossessions

Vehicle repossession is often a complex process which requires consideration not only of legislation in order to protect consumers and organisations, but also of various stakeholders.

Autorola Solutions recognises this area can prove challenging and therefore provides an end-to-end solution to manage the entire process via its connected online platform.

Risks increase when payments are in arrears”When payments are in arrears, your risk increases,” explains Ib Kimose, Global Solutions Director at Autorola. ”Therefore, swift action and strict control is a must, as you want to repossess the car as quickly as possible to minimise the lead time between gateways – both operational and legal – in order to sell the car to recoup losses.”

Autorola Solutions allows fleet operators to have full control over their cars every step of the way and to measure on all KPI’s. The platform provides a powerful tool to reduce operational costs and financial risks, and simplifies every part of fleet and resource management.

Flexibility is keyIb continues, ”Flexibility is key and inherent in our way of thinking. Our Business Partner set up takes collaboration to a new level, helping to integrate all key business partners into a users own customised flow in Fleet Monitor. This enables operations to be streamlined and optimised at individual levels.

The system also allows users to communicate online with all stakeholders, generating receipt documents, uploading relevant documents/certificates and managing deregistration processes.

Czech automotive sector continues upward trajectory

Dec 4, 2018 written by Autorola

The Czech Republic automotive sector has matured significantly over the past 12 months according to Rene Buzek, managing director of Autorola Czech Republic.

With a stable economic and political base, demand for new vehicles within the Czech Republic is high and has seen vehicle manufacturers turn their attentions on improving business infrastructures via the implementation of workflow management tools to enhance automation. This has been led by Fleet Monitor from Autorola Solutions.

‘We have witnessed an increasingly structured way of working within the market,’ explained Rene, ‘which has been positive for business and seen demand for our Solutions product increase. We are on the cusp of starting up some new projects with OEMs within the market with a view to enhancing their processes and workflows.’

Leasing segment overloadedThe leasing sector is what Rene describes as ‘overloaded’ with vehicles at present with unrealistic residual values resulting in higher levels of stock and stocking days. The private buying market is simply not absorbing the volume of vehicles coming to market and, as a result, banks are showing signs of nervousness and applying pressure on lease companies to ensure they speed up used sales, so they can see return on investment.

Rene said, ‘From our perspective this challenge is a great opportunity. We are working together with the leasing sector to relieve the pressures to find the right pricing models and to keep stock days under control. We are using Solutions to educate and coach the leasing sector about which vehicles to dispose of via which channel to optimise both stocking days and pricing.’

Rise in exportDespite the overall used car sector being buoyant, the challenge of choosing the correct channel for disposal of certain vehicles has also seen a steady rise in the volume of vehicles being exported. With certain ‘lower specification’ vehicles becoming less desirable as the market matures, some of the major vehicle handlers are turning to export as a means of disposing of the surplus domestic stock.

However, as the lower specification vehicles leave the market via export, the import market is steadily developing with the demand for higher specification, lower mileage vehicles rising. René said ‘In line with the new sector, over the past 12 months the demand for high specification, lower mileage used vehicles is too, very positive.’

These imported vehicles are entering the market from Austria, Belgium and, predominantly, Germany.

Global issues rumble in backgroundAlthough the market has and continues to evolve at pace, some of the current major global challenges appear to have had little impact on the market to date, but the rumblings are clear.

As the ‘demonisation of diesel’ continues to spread post- ‘Diesel Gate’, the market for diesel powertrains remains buoyant domestically. However, there are some rumblings within the market that plans are afoot to implement regulatory measures, in line with EU recommendations.

Rene said, ‘This is causing a bit of concern within the market at present, but I am confident that we will not see big change within the next five years.

‘The impact of WLTP is another issue that has been under great scrutiny in recent months, throughout Europe, and looking at the domestic data – registration figures have reduced, yet the market remains positive.’

Supporting the changeWith the evolution of the market well underway, technology is beginning to play a key role in progressing business across the board but Rene points to one of the key challenges within the market as being centred on mindset and the willingness to adapt to the new order.

‘It’s a challenge in some areas for people to accept the need to change their remarketing strategies,’ said Rene, ‘but on the whole, the market is recognising that it needs to bring in new processes, business models and management flows to satisfy demand.’

ŠKODA UK rolls out INDICATA

Indicata will play a major part in supporting ŠKODA as it grows its used car sales volumes across its UK dealer network.

Indicata can be analysed at a local, regional or national levelIndicata processes and analyses used car market data freely available in the public domain and turns it into live powerful market dynamic insights, including demand, supply, pricing and inventories. This can be analysed at a local, regional or national level.ŠKODA has rolled Indicata out to its four used car area managers and will use the market insights to support its 130 dealers. The move follows a successful two-month trial. Currently the brand has 7,000 used cars in its network.

It gives OEMs a network-wide view of its used stockNeil Gilligan, Indicata’s National Business Development Manager commented: “We are proud to have ŠKODA UK on board. They were impressed with the valuable insights Indicata provides which can quickly help dealers sell more used cars locally. It also gives manufacturers a unique network-wide overview of its used stock which helps them develop national used car offers and incentives.”Autorola UK already supports the ŠKODA dealer network in selling over-age stock and unwanted part exchanges via its online used car portal.Click here to get back to all News

Autorola Solutions is currently providing an extensive range of vehicle asset management tasks in 15 countries, across four continents, for some 300 companies.

Working with OEMs, banks, leasing companies, rental companies and dealers, Autorola Solutions allows vehicle asset owners to manage every single car, van and truck from its original order being placed all the way through to its remarketing at auction and onward delivery to its next owner. It also allows users to check the status of vehicles and ultimately the transparency of the vehicle’s history from mileage to maintenance, 24 hours a day.

The system provides users with a complete end-to-end solution to manage the processes that join the vehicle in-life and remarketing processes together, making it easier for internal fleet management teams and related supply chains.

The system is fully customisable and can be seamlessly integrated across IT platforms to allow users to combine processes and systems, creating a flow that 100% supports individual business needs and allows users to plan and control all activities from one single point.

In order to provide the necessary and relevant remedies to individual asset owners, the Autorola Solutions team start with an initial consultation to understand what is required. From this, a professional project manager will manage all elements of the ongoing client relationship to optimise and fine tune solutions in line with customer requirements with dedicated quarterly account management meetings.

Poland set for potential WLTP impact

‘For us, the market is very positive,’ said Michal Wojciechowski, Autorola Poland, ‘the economy is buoyant, vehicle sales on the whole continue to grow, the fleet distribution side of our business continues to expand, we have made a new appointment to the team and we have been delighted with the introduction of Indicata which has enabled us to further enhance our portfolio of partners.’

Potential of used vehicle marketVehicle manufacturers also see the potential of the used vehicle market and are the latest users to adopt Autorola Group’s Indicata to get a tighter handle on their remarketing activity both within Poland and across the EU. First to adopt the technology were Kia and Volvo. Importer organisations and the larger dealer groups that are testing Indicata now (the businesses’ target for 2018 and 2019) deem that market intelligence, network performance and sector analysis will ensure greater used vehicle penetration within the domestic market.

Along with partnerships with Kia and Volvo, the growth of Autorola Poland has also come in the form of new partnerships agreed with long standing client – a major German OEM leasing company and bank for whom the business has been selling vehicles for since 2012. Now Autorola’s Fleet Monitor and MarketPlace systems are being used to help monitor, manage and process their vehicle fleets too.

Other recent wins include a new partnership with another German brand, with Autorola providing logistics and transportation support. ‘We offer a bespoke service for all our partners,’ said Michal. ‘This is really the first time we have seen our compound become such big business and is certainly an opportunity for us moving ahead to cater for thousands of vehicles in a similar fashion.

Developing relationshipsWith manufacturer relationships developing, the biggest part of the Autorola Poland business continues to be closed auction sales or mass export of 9-12-month old ex-rental vehicles. France, Spain and Italy respectively make up the top three regional export destinations. Austria is one of the ‘newer’ countries to join the distribution channels.

Despite the successes, and Michal’s continued optimism, he is realistic of the challenges pending – namely the influence of the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) and, a little closer to home, the broader domestic situation.

Measuring real life fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from passenger cars and vans, WLTP will affect the global automotive sector and put all OEMs on the same band width.“WLTP is still a bit of an unknown, especially within the local market,’ said Michal. ‘Without doubt there will be challenges around imports, an already sensitive area of business since it’s last scare back in 2016 when there were rumours of excise tax introductions – something which ultimately failed to materialise, but it was enough to destabilise the market temporarily.”Click here to get back to all News

Autorola supports the Swedish remarketing sector by using smart data

Oct 11, 2018 written by Autorola

June signalled a major change in the Swedish new car market recording the best-ever sales month in the country’s history. 66,244 new cars were sold in June, a 73% increase, after the government introduced new incentives for low emission cars in July which would in turn penalise more polluting vehicles.

Inspired by the French system the price of new cars is set to rise as well as the cost of ownership if you have a diesel car or larger petrol engine model. Despite this, 2018 is projected to be another strong new car year for Sweden with 380,000 sales forecasts, as the buoyant economy enables consumers and corporates to continue to replace cars on a regular basis.

The right remarketing strategyAutorola is helping dealer groups and leasing companies to analyse and plan the right remarketing strategy by using smart data. By translating the vendor’s market data on stocking days, prices and vehicle volumes, country manager of Autorola Sweden, Brian Madsen, and his team can plan which country to sell the cars in to optimise prices.

“Our job is all about working with the dealers to solve market conditions where supply exceeds demand. We are not trying to solve the problem once the used car has come back at the end of its contract, but identifying which cars are coming back and when and then starting to pre-sell the cars,” said Sweden country manager Brian Madsen.

“That means turning to a wider European market and export. Currently 95% of used car sales on our online portal are being exported to other European countries.“Export is solving a countrywide problem and dealers are receiving a good market price for their cars. We are proactively selling cars which is keeping stocking days very low and prices high in what is a very difficult market,” he added.

Strong dealer used car insightsAutorola’s Indicata real time used vehicle management portal is providing strong dealer insights into key metrics such as local market prices and demand. These insights are proving powerful for OEMs on a national basis as it can help them keep the national supply of used cars under close control, including management cars or rental buy backs, as well as national dealer stock.

“We like to call it retail driven, wholesale where high supply and low consumer demand immediately pushes the used cars into the wholesale market,” said Madsen.

The Swedish market experienced a 43% growth in EV and plug in hybrid sales in June and cars like the Golf GTE are becoming very popular. Like so many countries the charging infrastructure is still in its infancy with charging points springing up in retail shopping malls and fast food outlets with the offer of free electricity being offered by retailers.

Indicata used to help adopt consistent pricingSwedish consumers are very well informed. They do a great deal of their homework online to evaluate used car prices. Drivers can be very fickle and will travel 150km to view a used car if it means saving a few thousand Krona. Indicata is being used by dealer groups to help adopt consistent pricing for stock to ensure dealers in different towns don’t compete with each other.

“Indicata enables dealer groups to adopt specific pricing on high demand models safe in the knowledge that they are not undercutting each other. A group used car manager can analyse the situation on a daily basis and will quickly liaise with a dealer if they are falling out of line with group strategy and reducing prices,” said Madsen.Click here to get back to all News